[londongardener]

A friend is giving away some strawberry plants - how easy are they to grow?  I was thinking of having them between apple trees.
Are birds a problem?  I have tried in containers with no success - possibly because we have rats in the garden.
(These will be grown in the allotment).

[simon hughes]

Strawberries are super easy to grow. The first
year of new plants isn't the best but year 2 onwards they are good producers. You replace plants every few years from the runners. And yes birds will eat them all. As will slugs. Pests really are the main problem. A mix of different types is usful too as some have a very short cropping window so good to have some and late ones.

Net them and grow loads so the ones the slugs do leave you are enough

[DHM]

What Simon Hughes said.

In terms of slugs, my mate strips the copper wire out of old cables, roughly twists it all and makes a big loop around his strawberry bed to keep the slugs off them. I havent tried this myself yet but have had success making collars out of copper tape for the sunflowers and it does seem to deter them.